The Visitor Studies Group: Championing excellent visitor experiences
News & Events
The latest news and upcoming events from The Visitor Studies Group (VSG). To find out more or make a booking please see the events posted below.
EARLYBIRD TICKETS NOW AVAILABILE! VSG 2022 CONFERENCE
Thursday 12 & Friday 13 May 2022, 9am – 5pm ISH Venues , 1 Park Crescent, London W1B 1SH Tickets now available on our Eventbrite site. SEE FULL PROGRAMME! 20% OFF TICKETS UNTIL 11 APRIL USING CODE: EARLYBIRD20 The topic of our 2022 conference is Evaluation challenges. Over two days, we will explore, discuss and share stories around challenges we face in… Continue Reading
CALL FOR PROPOSALS! VSG 2022 CONFERENCE
VISITOR STUDIES GROUP CONFERENCE 2022 Evaluation challenges: From troubles to triumphs and everything in between Thursday 12 & Friday 13 May 2022, 9am – 5pm ISH Venues , 1 Park Crescent, London W1B 1SH The topic of our 2022 conference is Evaluation challenges. Over two days, we will explore, discuss and share stories around challenges we face… Continue Reading
WE’RE GROWING! VSG COMMITTEE OPPORTUNITY
The Visitor Studies Group is managed by a committee whose role is to: set the strategic direction for the Group oversee the annual programme of activities represent the Group professionally at conferences and workshops encourage partnership working with like-minded organisations within the UK and from overseas meet four times a year to ensure the needs… Continue Reading
VSG MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME 2021-22: APPLY NOW
After a successful pilot of the Visitor Studies Group Mentorship Programme, we are pleased to announce that we are continuing this offer for 2021-22 to support emerging audience researchers and anyone who has had audience research responsibilities added to their role. First ideated by long-standing VSG members who want to give something back to the… Continue Reading
2021 Virtual Event Series Programme
Join us for a Visitor Studies Group conference with a twist! For 2021 we have created an online event series taking place throughout May bringing together practitioners from the cultural sector and beyond to discuss a variety of themes. We want to explore, discuss, and discover different techniques that we have used in the past… Continue Reading
2020 conference programme announced!
Today, we are delighted to release the VSG Conference 2020 Programme ! This year’s annual conference, Co-Creating the Future: Participation and the Role of Visitor Studies will take place 5 & 6th March 2020 at the Museum of London. Tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite and there is a 10% early bird offer available until Friday 24th January (enter… Continue Reading
Big data toolkit
As part of the VSG 2018 Conference, ‘Big Data, Big Opportunities’, delegates were invited to contribute ideas to a ‘Big Data Toolkit’. We have compiled notes collected from the conference into the toolkit, which we are sharing with VSG members. This includes examples of ‘big’ and ‘bigger’ data used in the sector, examples of ‘big… Continue Reading
Alison James Professional Development Bursary 2019 – applications open
In honour of Alison James, a keen supporter of professional development in the museum sector, a bursary of £500 is offered by VSG annually. We are delighted to open applications for this year’s award. Please find further details and the application form on our bursary page . The deadline is 11th January 2019.
#VSGConf19 – Call for Papers
We are delighted to open up submissions for our 2019 conference: “Visitor studies: reflecting the wider world, advocating for change?” Taking place March 7th and 8th at the National Gallery London, we are looking for sessions that explore, interrogate and understand how emerging trends – especially those borne from audience research both within and outside the… Continue Reading
‘Big data, big opportunities?’ – Reflections
This year’s VSG Conference, ‘Big data, big opportunities?’ took place March 8th and 9th in London’s Natural History Museum. Our bursary recipient, Elena Trimarchi, reflects on a busy two days: The theme of this year’s conference was Big Data. One of the things that most struck me was the variety of the speakers’ backgrounds:… Continue Reading
Conference 2018
***Tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite .*** The full programme is available for download here: VSG Conference 2018 Programme . In visitor studies, we are constantly striving to respond to an ever-changing socio-political landscape. We are frequently tasked with helping our organisations understand and support evidence-informed decision making, in response to these often complex areas. As populations and communities… Continue Reading
Conference reflections
This year, the Visitor Studies Group were happy to be able to offer a bursary to assist one person to attend our conference. Louise Treble of Glasgow Museums was the deserving recipient and through the bursary was able to attend the full two day conference. Louise has kindly summarised her experience of the conference: As the… Continue Reading
Conference 2017 – Storify
For those of you who were not able to attend our 2017 conference, ”Measuring up”: ways of capturing social value and more intangible outcomes’, held in March, check out our handy Storify: https://storify.com/visitorstudies/visitor-studies-group-conference-2017 Thanks to all who tweeted and joined in the conversation over a thought-provoking two days!
Conference programme announced!
The full programme for the Visitor Studies Group’s 2017 conference, ”Measuring up”: ways of capturing social value and more intangible outcomes’ is available to view now. We think this is one of our most exciting programmes yet, featuring speakers from a diverse range of organisations and institutions both within and outside of the heritage sector. A sample of… Continue Reading
Conference 2017 – poster session
Do you have recent work relevant to our 2017 theme that you would like to share at our conference? Why not sign up to our poster session? At the end of day one we will be gathering for a glass of wine at which point there will be an opportunity for delegates to look at the… Continue Reading
Conference bookings open
Bookings are now open for our 2017 conference. Visit Eventbrite to book . Use the code ERLYBRD for a 10% discount before 6th January 2017. Our theme is ‘‘Measuring up’: ways of capturing social value and more intangible outcomes’ and the conference will take place, 22nd and 23rd March 2017, in the Royal Geographical Society , London.
December socials!
We are planning two festive social events in December, one in London and one in Glasgow. We would love to see you at either, or both! Glasgow, 1st December Come along to Brewdog (1397 Argyle St) at 6pm for a wee drink and some friendly visitor studies chat. Kelvin Hall is just around the corner… Continue Reading
Conference 2017: Call for papers!
*** Deadline extended to 1pm, Monday 3rd October 2016! *** We are pleased to announce the theme for the 2017 VSG Conference, ‘‘Measuring up’: ways of capturing social value and more intangible outcomes’. It will be held on the 22nd and 23rd March 2017, in the Royal Geographical Society , London. We think this is an exciting and… Continue Reading
Social event in London!
Join VSG committee members to catch up on all things visitor studies over a drink or two. Find out what others are up to and share questions, thoughts and experiences on research and evaluation, or anything else that’s on your mind. Plus we’ll be chatting about our 2017 conference theme, hot off the press! When:… Continue Reading
York Social Event!
Pop along to the York Tap from 4.45pm onwards on Thursday 7th July for some drinks and friendly chat with visitor studies enthusiasts. All welcome! Address: York Railway Station, Station Rd, York YO24 1AB
2016 Annual General Meeting
In line with our constitution , an Annual General Meeting of the Group was held at the Conference on 17 March 2016 at the Royal Geographical Society London. Minutes of the meeting can be downloaded here: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2016
Conference Keynote Speakers
We are delighted to welcome two keynote speakers to this years’ conference who can open up the discussion on how we turn audience research into action. Lamia Dabboussy is Head of Audience Planning and Brand Insight at the BBC and Esme Ward is Head of Learning and Engagement at The Whitworth and Manchester Museum at… Continue Reading
Access All Areas? – Manchester
Wednesday 11 November Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Following the success and feedback from our Access all Areas? event last year in Edinburgh, we are excited to offer another full-day session in Manchester that will focus on access and accessibility within the cultural sector. The programme for the day is available on the Event Page . Presentations have… Continue Reading
“Access all Areas?” Manchester – Call for Papers
Following the success and feedback from our “Access all Areas?” event last year in Edinburgh, we are excited to offer a similar session in Manchester that focuses on access and accessibility within the cultural sector. Aimed at people who work in visitor studies, learning and engagement, “Access All Areas?” will take a deeper look at… Continue Reading
Informal Networking Events
Our members always tell us that opportunities for networking are really important and with the new ‘school year’ starting soon we thought why not get together and see whats going on in the visitor focused world. Informal Networking Events are planned in London , Edinburgh and in the planning stage for Manchester. Follow the links for more… Continue Reading
Conference 2016
The programme is now out and bookings open for our VISITOR STUDIES GROUP CONFERENCE 2016 which will be held on 16th and 17th March 2016 at the Royal Geographical Society, London. The theme for the conference is “Visitor Studies: It’s what you do with it!” How can visitor studies have real impact? How does visitor research influence decisions… Continue Reading
2015 Bursary OPEN
Applications are now open for the Alison James Professional Development Bursary and after much consideration the VSG Committee has decided this year, for the first time, to change the eligibility criteria. As a Committee we are keen to support and encourage those at the earliest stages of their careers in visitor studies – you are… Continue Reading
2015 Conference presentations online
Presentations from our 2015 Conference last month on the theme ‘Visitor Studies: Embracing Change?’ are now online.… Continue Reading
Measuring Impact?
Are you facing calls for evidence of impact from your project stakeholders? Two sessions on day two of our conference (5 March) will explore how visitor studies is adapting to the needs of the sector, including the demands of its funders. Christopher Whitby (Science Museum) and Dr Effrosyni Nomikou (King’s College London) will draw on… Continue Reading
Keynote Speakers: Embracing Change
The VSG Conference on the theme of ‘Visitor Studies: Embracing Change?‘ will open on 4 March 2015 with a keynote session from Piotr Bienkowski who is Project Director of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s programme ‘Our Museum: Communities and Museums as Active Partners’. He runs a cultural consultancy specialising in organisational change, community engagement and cultural… Continue Reading
